We interviewed Wataru Taniguchi, a libero who plays for Milon in the Greek League this season.
Taniguchi played for Padua in Italy on loan from the Tokyo Great Bears last season. This season, his second season in an overseas league, he is also playing for Milon in Greece on loan. His teammate is setter Ryu Yamamoto.
At Padua, he was a reserve libero and did not get many opportunities to play, but at Milon, he started every game as a starting libero. With his outstanding athletic ability and dedicated defense, he contributed to the team's third place finish in the regular season. As an individual, he was selected as the MVP of the game in the 8th round and the MVP of the entire round.
The team is currently in the semi-finals of the playoffs. With one win and two losses, they had no choice but to face the fourth match on Saturday, April 5th. Despite struggling with serve reception, he created many chances from spike reception and contributed to the team's straight victory. They kept their hopes of advancing to the finals alive in the fifth match that followed.
I spoke with Taniguchi after the match.
T: Congratulations on your victory. First of all, how do you feel looking back on today's match?
Taniguchi: We won 3-0 today, but personally, my reception wasn't that good. But I think I helped the team a lot on the defensive side, so I'll try to reflect on that and do my best next week. Also, as a team, our spikers had good solutions and scored goals, so I think we were able to win 3-0 because of the good development.
T: There's still a bit of the season ahead, but how do you feel looking back on this season so far?
Taniguchi: We had a good first half of the season with many wins, but the second half was tough with many losses. However, we have come this far and have two wins and two losses against Olympiacos (in the playoff semi-finals), so we will prepare well and do our best for the next match, the fifth.
T: How is this season for you personally compared to last season in Italy?
Taniguchi: I didn't get to play many games last year, but I think I was able to grow in many ways, such as my defense and getting used to the speed of the ball, so this season I've been aiming to show those aspects in the games. I'm starting to be able to show that, so I want to increase the number of opportunities to do so and improve my level even further.
I will try my best to make it happen.
T: Could you tell us more about the areas in which you feel you have grown this season?
Taniguchi: I think I've improved a lot defensively, because I've gotten used to the speed and I'm able to catch more balls. I wasn't in good form today when it came to reception, but I was able to hold off strong balls in a low ceiling (so they don't hit the ceiling), so I think I'm improving a little bit there.
T: Finally, please tell us again about your enthusiasm for the fifth semi-final.
Taniguchi: We're beginning to perform well in good situations, like today, so we'd like to use this week to prepare ourselves so that we can continue to do well next week and go into the next game.
The fifth round of the playoff semi-finals will be played at 25:00 on Saturday, April 12th, Japan time. The match can be watched for free here, but only from within Greece.
https://www.ertflix.gr/en/epg/channel/ept2-live
If you can't see the broadcastLive scores hereWe would be grateful if as many people as possible would come and watch and support the game, even if it's just for a short while.
We look forward to seeing Taniguchi's super reception!!
Photo: TOSHIKI, aonsmilon.gr
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